My children range from the ages of 3 years old to 9 and whilst that six years may not seem a lot, there is actually a vast difference in what interests all three of them. With all three of them wanting to celebrate Halloween, I have to come up with clever ideas that will keep all of them entertained.
Organised activities.
We are very lucky that the community in which we live in has lots of different events happening which cater to different needs and in several cases are happening at different times of the day. Halloween usual falls within our October half term with school so we are lucky that we can make a day of it. For example, a local play centre is having a spooky crafty morning, making slime, making witches hats and general art and craft type activities. My eldest daughter is not too bothered by this but she knows that later in the day we will visit the Spooky ghost walk at the local historical house. In some cases, there are spooky activities for each of them to do and in others, they each pick a different activity and we make a day out. Checking local what’s on Facebook and magazines is a great way to discover what is happening around you or even try the local library they often have lots of activities to choose from.
Spooky Photo sessions
As a photographer, I offer spooky sightings. These are a lot of fun and offer some great photos for parents. The sessions are kept light and kids dress up and pull spooky faces at both me and if with their siblings with each other. All the kids that have attended them have always said how much fun they are and come back each year to pull more scary faces either with their friends or siblings
Visit Friends or relatives
When my children were younger I would take them trick or treating during the day and to friends or relatives that I knew would be in. They loved the experience as they felt like they were experiencing trick or treat, which I guess they were but a toned-down version. We would do it early for them so that it was still light and it meant they would be home later for when the trick or treaters visited us.
Hand out the treats
Which leads me on to the next point. All three of mine love to get dressed up and hand out the treats too. As the girls have gotten older they now make a point to try and scare the trick or treaters who come to the door and award each other points for who can get the loudest scream. My son however just finds it funny shouting boo at the trick or treaters. Whatever the age they all seem to enjoy handing out the treats.
Throw a party
My absolute favourite is to throw a Halloween party. Children of all ages and adults too can all enjoy themselves together. We decorate the house with spooky decorations and the kids love to help and use their imagination to create a creepy house. In fact the creepier the better as it helps them to scare the trick or treaters, see point 4. We create ghoulish treats such as witches fingers and vampire blood to drink. My children all get into character and we invite friends and family to join us. Sometimes we may take the children out in small groups to trick or treat on a few of the neighbouring houses but we leave this up to them. We fill the house full of Halloween music and put age-appropriate Halloween films on to watch for those who want a bit of a chill. There are even some great Halloween party games to play.
